Survey Sample and Loughborough University Bus Driver Fatigue Study

Keith Prince: Page 83 of the Fatigue Study reveals that about 5.4% (1353 of about 25000) of TfL Bus Drivers bothered to complete the Loughborough Bus Driver Fatigue Study. Do you feel that this sample size reflects a statistically-valid sample upon which to make policy? Since this small sample size represents less than 10% of Unite the Union’s stated membership of London’s Bus Drivers, does this low turnout constitute Unite the Union’s “work” both TfL and you are praising?

The Mayor: This is a statistically significant sample size on which to base a plan of action, and that is what Transport for London, its bus operators and Unite the Union set out to achieve. The independent research was also backed by other sources of data such as on-road observations, manager interviews, driver focus groups and a literature review.
Please also see my response to Mayor's Question 2019/17465.

Metropolitan Police Contracts (1)

Susan Hall: How are you ensuring that the Metropolitan Police gets the best value for money for its contracts and outsourced services?

The Mayor: Prior to the award of contracts and procurement of outsourced services the business case justifying the award of the contract or procurement is produced. The MPS follows the Treasury recommended Green Book approach - which identifies 5 main aspects, namely; the Strategic Case (are supported by a robust Case for Change), The Economic Case (optimise Value for Money), the Commercial Case (are commercially viable), the Financial Case (are financially affordable) and the Management Case (can be delivered successfully).
Where appropriate, on major high-risk projects and programmes, an independent external assurance has been provided through commissioning a review by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), OGC Gateway and/or through the Treasury Project Assessment Review (PAR) process.
My Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime with the support of MOPAC officers, scrutinises each investment decision, via Investment, Advisory and Monitoring (IAM) meeting. All decisions are subsequently published on the website.

Proposed Changes to Bus Route 339 Consultation (1)

Jennette Arnold: Please provide details of how much money was spent on advertising this consultation. Are you satisfied that the money was wisely spent?

The Mayor: To promote this consultation, Transport for London (TfL) spent £391.40 on a letter drop to 1044 local residents and businesses. This was targeted at addresses along the route where changes were proposed. All other promotional channels, including email, web, bus stop posters and local engagement, did not incur additional costs outside of TfL’s existing operating costs.
For more information on how TfL consulted on changes to bus route 339 please go to https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/339-monier-road/user_uploads/route-339-monier-road-consultation-report.pdf
Given the scope and scale of the consultation, I consider this to be a satisfactory and proportionate use of public money.

Housing size mix

Andrew Boff: Further to question 2019/8945, please provide the number of GLA-funded affordable homes started in each of the financial years 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 which were studio flats, 1 bed and 2 bed properties. Please break the data down by property type (studio, 1 bed, 2 bed) and by borough.

The Mayor: Details of the number of bedrooms on schemes from 2013/14 to 2016-17 are not held within the GLA Open Project system. Below is a summary for homes started on site in 2017-18 and 2018-19 reported within GLA programmes. This is based on the information related to the current published statistics.
2018-19
2017-18
Total
86
3,494
3,878
206
3,830
4,893
Studio
1 bed
2 Bed
Studio
1 bed
2 Bed
Barking and Dagenham
0
145
157
0
33
131
Barnet
0
140
150
0
326
440
Bexley
0
59
80
0
31
86
Brent
0
279
367
0
13
31
Bromley
0
33
63
0
145
113
Camden
0
80
68
5
10
6
City of London
0
9
0
0
0
0
Croydon
0
171
232
12
159
183
Ealing
3
91
117
0
345
407
Enfield
0
48
63
0
88
100
Greenwich
0
172
124
0
145
187
Hackney
0
80
87
0
24
59
Hammersmith and Fulham
0
188
274
0
24
37
Haringey
0
34
32
0
131
101
Harrow
1
170
104
0
68
109
Havering
0
118
204
0
0
0
Hillingdon
5
10
18
0
100
116
Hounslow
2
161
298
0
144
174
Islington
0
173
190
36
96
178
Kensington and Chelsea
0
61
34
3
34
28
Kingston upon Thames
0
7
2
0
39
20
Lambeth
5
21
13
42
129
125
Lewisham
54
72
98
0
103
122
Merton
0
0
0
0
49
94
Newham
1
251
195
49
494
585
Redbridge
0
53
68
0
25
78
Richmond upon Thames
0
15
22
0
8
16
Southwark
0
103
57
0
332
379
Sutton
0
12
20
0
45
83
Tower Hamlets
1
419
377
37
429
386
Waltham Forest
8
62
112
12
93
249
Wandsworth
6
254
240
10
135
213
Westminster
0
3
12
0
33
57
Note: Details above based on published statistics September 2019

Drugs testing facilities 2

Andrew Boff: The number of deaths from drug poisoning is at its highest level nationally since 1993. Will you now investigate the use of "Drug Consumption Rooms" in London.

The Mayor: We have no plans to investigate Drug Consumption Rooms.

Station Capacity On North London Overground Line

Jennette Arnold: What capacity of users do evaluations show the stations between Stratford- Highbury and Islington can safely cope with at peak times?

The Mayor: Station capacity is a function of multiple factors, including how the station is managed, staff numbers, patterns of ticket purchases and train service patterns, station layout and passenger numbers. Staff are trained to monitor overall crowding levels and manage these to ensure that unsafe situations do not develop. One such example is opening ticket gates.
Transport for London (TfL) acknowledges that these stations are often busy but it has worked with partners to consider and implement solutions to improve customer throughput, including:
All passengers using London Overground services on the North London Line will also benefit from a more frequent peak service of 10 trains per hour from December 2019.
TfL will continue to work to identify further options to improve the station environment on this busy section of the North London Line.

Camden and Islington BCU borough commander

Andrew Dismore: Camden and Islington BCU are getting their fourth borough commander in just 12 months; is the intention to provide continuity in these posts and if so is such turnover desirable?

The Mayor: I appreciate that communities and statutory partners value consistency in their local police leadership and this is important to establishing and maintaining relationships. Accordingly, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) aims for a minimum of 2 years in post for Basic Command Unit (BCU) Commanders.
However, there will be occasions for both operational and personal reasons when this is not achievable. Furthermore, with the BCUs being formed in 2018 and early 2019 there have inevitably been changes in personnel over the last couple of years.
When a Commander moves there is often an interim placement whilst the substantive post is filled, and this can exacerbate the perception of frequent change.
The current BCU Commander, Chief Superintendent Kohli, is an experienced officer who is already familiar with the BCU having worked as an officer in Camden for many years previously. Ch Supt Kohli has committed to the minimum two years and the MPS anticipate that this will be fulfilled.

Proposed Changes to Bus Route 339 Consultation (3)

Jennette Arnold: TfL is proceeding as planned with changes to the route despite 50% of respondents being strongly opposed to them. As such please explain in detail what the purpose of the consultation was in this case.

The Mayor: Consultations provide Transport for London (TfL) with an opportunity to set out initial proposals to customers and hear their views on how they may be affected. This helps TfL to understand any issues that they may not have been aware of, understand in detail any specific concerns and objections, and allow people to make alternative suggestions as to how proposals could be implemented. By taking part in consultations, TfL’s customers and stakeholders can help shape or influence the decisions TfL make.
The key concern raised in the route 339 consultation related to increased traffic adversely affecting air quality, noise and safety. However, as part of the proposal, Monier Road will be restricted for use by pedestrians, cyclists and buses only. TfL expects this to address the main concerns received.
All consultation responses were considered prior to the decision to proceed. TfL’s responses to the points raised during the consultation are contained in a report available on its website: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/339-monier-road/user_uploads/route-339-monier-road-response-to-issues-raised.pdf

Taxi and Private Hire Trade (5)

David Kurten: Does TfL abdicate all responsibility for testing and interviewing private hire driver licensees to Operators?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) is the licensing authority and regulator for London’s taxi and private hire services. It is therefore responsible for licensing all London taxi and private hire drivers.The licensing requirements for taxi and private hire licensees are available on the TfL website:

Bus driver toilets programme completion

Caroline Russell: I note the progress on bus driver toilet provision in the Bus Driver Facility Improvements report to the 4 September 2019 Safety, Sustainability and Human Resources Panel of Transport for London (TfL). It is stated that there is still one bus route without any toilet facilities at either terminus, and three bus routes with limited access to toilets and where the bus service continues beyond the opening hours of the available facilities. The report says that the aim is: "to have provided facilities on these routes by autumn 2019." In which month of Autumn 2019 will bus drivers working on these routes have full access to toilet facilities?

The Mayor: The report should have stated that Transport for London (TfL) will provide toilets on all of the remaining routes in scope by autumn 2020 and has now been corrected. This error was noticed after publication and was reported verbally at the public meeting of the Safety, Sustainability and Human Resources (SSHRP) where this report was considered.
This timeframe allows for some challenges to be resolved including addressing concerns in residential areas. TfL plans to install a toilet for route 124 by November this year if consents can be obtained from the Royal Borough of Greenwich and impacts on residents can be minimised. In rare instances where there appear to be no other options, routes will be adapted to places where toilets are available.
TfL achieved an ambitious target of providing 42 prioritised routes with temporary or permanent toilets by the end of July and is working to make all of these permanent by spring next year.

TfL Control Centre System

Nicky Gavron: Transport for London has awarded a contract to Sopra Steria to develop a new control room system for managing TfL’s roads. What data streams will be collected by this software when it is launched and moving forward in the future?

The Mayor: Initially, this new system will use the data streams currently available to Transport for London (TfL) for managing the road network. These include data from London’s extensive network of traffic light detectors, ANPR cameras, CCTV, road works and buses. TfL is also exploring the potential for integrating data from social media, crowdsourcing data, and procuring additional data streams which may add value to the operational analytics process within this software.

Loughborough University Study of Bus Driver Fatigue: Unite the Union’s “work&quot;

Keith Prince: TfL’s Press Release about the Loughborough University Study of Bus Driver Fatigue stated it "was commissioned by TfL in response to Unite the Union's work to highlight the complex issue,” Please provide me with copies of all studies, data, analyses of Bus Driver Fatigue produced by Unite the Union which might, theoretically, constitute Unite the Union’s “work".

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor's Question 2019/17465.

Local pinch point fund

Florence Eshalomi: Why are TfL and the London Boroughs excluded from applying to the £150mlocal pinch point fund?

The Mayor: It is disappointing that, unlike the rest of the UK, the vast majority of London’s road network receives no sustained central Government funding for maintenance. London is also excluded from a number of ad hoc funding pots, including the local pinch point fund.
Longer-term funding certainty on city region road networks, rather than ad-hoc settlements, would allow more cost-effective and sustainable asset management. I have written to the Chancellor to explain that, to meet demand and support London’s growth, Transport for London urgently needs certainty of long-term, sustained funding, either through the restoration of a grant or by fiscal devolution.
I want towork with Government to urgently agree a settlement which provides long-term funding certainty to support investment in our transport network, including London’s roads.

Local roads funding and maintenance: filling the gap

Florence Eshalomi: The House of Commons Transport Committee Report, “Local roads funding and maintenance: filling the gap” recommended that “The DfT should take the lead on consulting with local authorities about the exact nature of a five-year settlement…The DfT should also include London councils in the consultation to seek their views on whether the London funding settlement is fit for purpose”. What discussions, if any, have you or TfL had with the DfT about participating in this consultation?

The Mayor: I welcome the Transport Select Committee’s work on local roads funding, for which Transport for London (TfL) provided both written and oral evidence, and fully support the recommendation that local roads are funded through five-year settlements.
Longer-term funding certainty on city region road networks, rather than ad-hoc settlements, would allow more cost-effective and sustainable asset management. This is important not only for TfL but also for London boroughs, who have been significantly impacted by funding cuts. It is also vital for businesses who are seeking certainty that London will continue to be an attractive place to do business.
I wrote to the Chancellor on 27 August to explain that to meet demand and support London’s growth, TfL urgently needs certainty of long-term, sustained funding, either through the restoration of a grant or by fiscal devolution. I want to work with Government to urgently agree a settlement which provides long-term funding certainty to support investment our transport network, including London’s roads.

MOPAC representation at Barnet Safer Neighbourhood Board meetings

Andrew Dismore: No MOPAC representative has attended meetings of Barnet Safer Neighbourhood Board for at least a year; nor were apologies for absence sent. What is the reason for this and will you ensure MOPAC representation at the next Barnet Safer Neighbourhood Board meeting?

The Mayor: I have been advised that a member of my Office for Policing and Crime’s (MOPAC) Community Engagement Team last attended a meeting of Barnet Safer Neighbourhood Board (SNB) on 19 March 2019. In supporting 32 Boards and various other engagement mechanisms, members of the Team are not able to attend every SNB meeting but do endeavour to maintain contact with the Boards through other means.
Safer Neighbourhood Boards are an important element of the local police-community engagement structure and that is why they have provided them with a £1m fund to support local engagement and community safety projects in addition to the support offered by MOPAC’s Community Engagement Team.

Individual Met heads

Tony Devenish: Are you concerned that Camden as one example has had four such individual Met heads in just the last twelve months?

The Mayor: I appreciate that communities and statutory partners value consistency in their local police leadership and this is important to establishing and maintaining relationships. Accordingly, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) aims for a minimum of 2 years in post for Basic Command Unit (BCU) Commanders. However, there will be occasions for both operational and personal reasons when this is not achievable. Furthermore, with the BCUs being formed in 2018 and early 2019 there have inevitably been changes in personnel over the last couple of years. When a Commander moves there is often an interim placement whilst the substantive post is filled, and this can exacerbate the perception of frequent change. The current BCU Commander, Chief Superintendent Kohli, is an experienced officer who is already familiar with the BCU having worked as an officer in Camden for many years previously. Ch Supt Kohli has committed to the minimum two years and the MPS anticipate that this will be fulfilled

Electric scooters (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: What is being done to enforce the current legislation restricting the use of electric scooters on public roads and pavements?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) and the Metropolitan Police Service are of course concerned about the recent proliferation of electric scooters. The Metropolitan Police Service's Roads and Transport Policing Command, part-funded by TfL, and the City of London Police have stepped up activity engaging with riders of e-scooter and other micro-mobility devices. Riders are educated about the law and advised to not ride their devices on public roads. Those who refuse to comply may have their devices seized. In the first month of this operation, the police issued over 200 warnings, seized 30 scooters and made one arrest.

Updated International Bus Benchmarking Group (IBBG) Data

Caroline Pidgeon: The IBBG Data displayed on the TfL website only goes up to 2015. Can you provide updated presentations which show London’s performance relative to other IBBG members for 2016, 2017 and 2018?

The Mayor: International Bus Benchmarking Group (IBBG) data is a useful way of comparing ourselves against other major World cities and sharing best practice on running bus services. An IBBG data report was produced in 2017 and was shared on the Transport for London (TfL) website. This contained 2015 data.
Bus performance data was included in the annual TfL International Benchmarking report. This was published with the Customer Service Operational Performance Panel (CSOPP) Agenda and Papers. The 2018 report included the latest available IBBG data at the time of publication which was for 2016, and can be found at the following link: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/csopp-20181114-agenda-and-papers.pdf.
IBBG data is collected by Imperial College on behalf of all members. It has not yet anonymised 2017 data or analysed 2018 data.
TfL is considering how best to share future benchmarking work.

Bus Driver Wages

David Kurten: To ask the Mayor, what is the average wage of a London bus driver?

The Mayor: As bus drivers are employed by bus operators and each company will deploy its staff slightly differently across its portfolio of routes, Transport for London is not able to calculate an average wage. As part of my commitment to ensure drivers are paid fairly, I introduced a professional bus driver minimum wage of £23,000 in London in 2016 and this has risen with the Retail Price Index to £24,711 from April of this year.

Council homes funding (1)

Tom Copley: How much funding has the GLA awarded to each London Borough for new homes at social rent or London Affordable Rent in each of the last five years?

The Mayor: The table belowshows the total grant paid to Council providers since 2014 based on all the schemes currently held in our systems (this excludes programmes that fully completed in legacy Investment Management System such as Affordable Housing 2011-15 or National Affordable Homes Programme).
Provider
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
City of London
£270,000
£270,000
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
£560,000
£560,000
£996,188
£3,256,062
£627,000
London Borough of Brent
£1,441,500
£451,000
£8,822,500
London Borough of Camden
£728,000
£8,178,000
London Borough of Camden (NP)
£700,696
£430,045
£270,650
London Borough of Ealing
£282,500
£554,500
£3,509,000
London Borough of Enfield
£157,500
£1,697,500
£175,000
£50,000
London Borough of Hackney
£4,034,000
£209,000
London Borough of Harrow - Housing
£1,395,000
London Borough of Havering
£456,000
£310,000
£160,000
£150,000
London Borough of Hillingdon
£266,000
London Borough of Hounslow
£1,100,000
£1,294,000
£1,170,000
£1,224,000
£2,120,000
London Borough of Islington
£1,038,000
£1,700,000
London Borough of Newham
£23,004,000
London Borough of Redbridge
£315,000
£180,000
£435,000
£6,678,000
London Borough of Southwark
£6,027,065
£140,000
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
£3,250,000
London Borough of Waltham Forest
£1,370,296
£953,000
-£35,000
London Borough of Wandsworth
£3,102,000
Royal Borough of Greenwich
£180,000
Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea
£5,490,000
£5,430,000
£180,000
Grand Total
£3,491,500
£4,980,196
£5,885,484
£8,664,545
£74,777,277
£9,514,000

Unite the Union’s “work” on Bus Driver Fatigue and 2015-2018 Tripartite Meeting Minutes

Keith Prince: TfL’s Press Release about the Loughborough University Study of Bus Driver Fatigue stated it "was commissioned by TfL in response to Unite the Union's work to highlight the complex issue,” A review of the 10 Tripartite Meetings between TfL, Bus Operators and Unite the Union between November 2015 and April 2018 released under FOI (https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/tripartite_meetings) show that Unite the Union mentioned the issue of Fatigue at less than half of these meetings. Did Unite the Union present any Bus Driver Fatigue Survey Data, analysis, or papers at any of these meetings? Please provide me with copies.

The Mayor: Unite the Union made Transport for London (TfL) and the bus operators aware of its concerns about bus driver fatigue and its plans for a driver survey at the Tripartite Meeting. Its drivers also shared their experiences with the GLA Transport Committee around this time and their contributions were reflected in the wider Driven to Distraction report which can be viewed at https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/london-assembly/london-assembly-publications/driven-distraction-tackling-safety-londons-buses.